Stingray Billionaire: The Complete Series (An Alpha Billionaire Romance) (54 page)

CHAPTER
FOUR

Lexi

I
sat on the floor in
front of the door sobbing until I was exhausted, then I pulled my phone off of
the table and called my best friend, Viv. She assured me that she would be
there within the hour and that she'd bring the necessary supplies. I hung up,
staring at the picture of Josh and me in Jamaica that had been my screen saver
since we'd taken the photo six months ago. We'd scraped together our meager
earnings and bought a cheap weekend package to celebrate graduation and our
relationship surviving our undergrad years. It had been a magical weekend, and
I'd wondered if Josh was going to propose. He hadn't, of course, but it felt
like we'd solidified our partnership and were walking in the same direction on
the same path.

Viv showed up with
her arms full of bags of food and various little distractions she'd picked up
along the way. Once through the door, she dropped the bags and pulled me into a
tight hug, which immediately made me start crying.

"There,
there," she said as she patted my head and rubbed my back. I clung to her
as my tears fell fast and furious on her shoulder. She smelled like clean linen
and sunshine, and the scent catapulted me back to the warmth of the sandy beach
where Josh and I had spent hours talking about the future.

"I…I…I…"
I stammered through sobs. I wanted to tell her what I was thinking. I wanted to
spill out all of the horrible, awful thoughts that were racing through my brain
so I could let them go and forget that Josh had simply abandoned me. I felt
sorry for myself. I wanted to curl up in a ball and hide in bed for the rest of
eternity, but Viv would have none of it.

"I know,
Wally," she reassured me. She had nicknamed me Wally during our first year
in high school and contrary to popular belief, it wasn't a shortened version of
Wallace, which happened to be my last name.

It was because of
the time I'd been talking nonstop about some boy I had a crush on, had failed
to look where I was going and had walked face first into a brick wall. It took
me a long time to accept the nickname, but she finally sold me on it when she
told me that my ability to focus on one thing and tune out everything else
around me was one of the things she admired most about me – even when it
resulted in embarrassing situations. "I know it hurts. I know he's an ass.
I know. I know. Just let it all go."

As I cried, I
noticed that one of Viv's bags was making a quiet rustling noise, and I picked
my head up off of her shoulder to look at it more closely. She let go and
stepped back to examine the bag. It looked like something was trying to escape.
I turned and gave Viv a quizzical look.

"Open it up,
Wally!" she urged. So, I reached out and pulled the edges of the bag apart
and found myself face to face with a tiny gray kitten who stared at me with
it's big blue eyes before reaching out and softly patting my nose.

"What is
this?" I asked as I looked back and forth between Viv and the tiny cat.

"I believe
it's what most people call a kitten," she grinned.

"Is it
yours?"

"Nope, it's
yours!" she declared as she clapped and bounced up and down.

"I can't have
a kitten!" I protested. "How in the world can you bring me a kitten
and think that it makes up for Josh walking out?"

"I didn't
bring her to replace Josh," she said in an indignant tone, and then backed
up a bit. "Well, maybe she's a little bit of a replacement for that lousy
excuse for a human being, but I brought her mostly because she needs a home and
I'd already adopted two of her littermates. I can't have three cats in my
apartment."

"So, you just
brought her here and thought I'd take her no questions asked?" I said as I
stared down into the bag at the tiny little kitten who sat quietly looking up
at me.

"Pretty
much."

"Vivian
Lasky, you are beyond the pale!" I yelled and then felt bad as the kitten
ducked her head and hid in the corner of the bag.

"You're
scaring the baby!" she shot back as she reached into the bag and pulled
out the little gray fuzz ball and cooed, "Are you okay, baby? Are you
scared of the big, bad lady? Don't be scared, little one."

"Great, this
is just great, Viv," I said as I watched her snuggle the kitten. "I
don't even know if I'm allowed to have pets or if I'm even going to have a
place to live!"

"Don't be
dramatic," she said. "Of course, you're going to have a place to
live."

"Josh isn't
going to pay his portion of the rent, Viv!" I cried. "He said he has
a lot of expenses to take care of in LA and that he'd send me money if he
could, but that I really shouldn't expect anything. He stuck me with this place
and now I've got a $1,600 a month rent payment for the next eight months and no
job!"

"Well, that's
easy to remedy," she said as she held the kitten out to me. "Here,
snuggle her while I get dinner ready."

Reluctantly, I
took the kitten from her and cradled it like a baby. She curled up in my arms,
content to watch Viv pulling containers out of bags and piling food on the
plates she pulled out of the cupboard. I stroked the kitten's tiny head and was
rewarded with a loud purr and a big drop of saliva on my arm.

"Oh
gross," I said trying to feign disgust so that I wouldn't fall in love
with this tiny creature. "She's drooling."

"Yep, that's
what kittens do when they're super happy," Viv smiled. "She likes
you."

"Well, she
shouldn't get too comfortable. She's not staying," I grumbled.

"Wally, don't
be such a damn miser," she said as she spooned a healthy helping of
tabouleh onto our plates. "Just because Josh is a loser doesn't mean you
need to shut down and cut off all other outlets. Besides, this shouldn't be all
that surprising. We knew he was an ass from the beginning. Hell, we used to
joke about it before you went and got all lovey-dovey about him."

"Why are you
rubbing salt into the wound?" I asked as I ran my fingers up and down the
soft gray fur and watched as the kitten slowly grew sleepier and sleepier.

"Because you
are a romantic dreamer and I am a pragmatist, my friend," she said,
pulling open a drawer and cheering a little when she found the forks on the
first try. Viv was smart, but she didn't have a mind for details. "We knew
this was going to happen eventually. Just be glad it was before you got married
and were saddled with kids."

"Yeah, now
I'm just saddled with a kitten," I muttered.

"Gratitude is
an attitude, Wally," Viv chirped. I wanted to smack her and she knew it,
so she flashed a big brilliant smile as she set the full plate of food down in
front of me with a flourish. "Eat. You need to keep your strength and
blood sugar up."

I held the sleeping
kitten in one arm as I dug into the enormous plate of food that Viv had set
before me. It was a little awkward trying to pull the shish kabob off of the
skewer with one hand, but I didn't want to wake the warm, fuzzy kitten who
seemed to have gotten very comfortable very quickly. As she purred softly in my
arms, I knew she would be staying and I silently cursed and blessed Viv for the
gift.

"So, what are
you going to do about rent, Wally?" Viv asked after we'd gorged ourselves
on hummus, fresh pita, salad, and grilled meat. "You've got another mouth
to feed now. You have to be a responsible parent."

"Very funny,
Viv," I said with a grim smile. "I have no idea what I'm going to do.
Josh and I were splitting the rent and I was barely scraping by. I need something,
and I need it fast!"

"Well, first
thing's first," she said in a bossy tone. "You need to get down to
the office and talk with Peter about acting jobs. Then, you need to register
with the temp agency in my building. I might be able to convince my boss to
call and ask for you, if we've got any good work. Then, we need to see about
what other options you might have."

"Viv, I'm
registered with every temp agency in town," I told her as I scooped up the
last of the hummus with a bit of pita and popped it in my mouth. "There
hasn't been much for months."

"Hmmm,
okay," she mused as she wracked her brain for something that might be
useful. "Oooh, I've got it! How about modeling? There's a bunch of trade
shows coming through town in the next few months! You could be a spokes-model
for some of the companies that show their goods at the convention!"

"I'm an
actress, not a model, Viv," I reminded her. "How on earth am I going
to get a modeling contract for those shows?"

"I think I
know someone," she said with a grin.

"Of course,
you do." I rolled my eyes and looked down at the bundle of fur curled up
in my arms and felt a strong wave of love flood my brain as I looked at her.
"Anna. I'm going to call you Anna Karenina."

"What did you
say?" Viv asked as she scrolled through her enormous list of contacts,
looking for the one that would connect me to the trade show modeling business.

"Nothing, I
just named the kitty," I said quietly as I leaned down and kissed the top
of the fuzzy, little, gray head and whispered, "It's all going to be okay,
Anna. We're going to be fine, you and me." The kitten purred loudly as she
stretched her paws up and found a more comfortable position, and for the first
time since Josh walked out the door, I smiled.

CHAPTER
FIVE

Max

On
my way back downtown after visiting Babi, my phone rang and; and when I looked
at the screen, I sighed and answered. "What do you want?"

"Is that any
way to greet your friend?" the woman on the other end purred.

"Natalia, I
don't have a lot of time for nonsense," I said a little more harshly than
I'd intended. "What do you want?"

"Aww, don't
be mad, Maxi," she pouted. "Why are you mad at me? What have I done
wrong?"

"Nothing,
Natalia," I said through clenched teeth. The cab was slowly moving down
Wabash and I was irritated by the traffic, so I tapped on the window, handed
the driver a twenty, and motioned for him to pull over. I got out and began
walking toward the office at a rapid pace. "What do you want?"

"Will you go
see the Ibsen play with me this weekend?"

"Again?"
I replied. "You know how much I hate that play, and yet you ask me to go
with you not once, but twice. Why, Natalia?"

"Because I
want to see it again, darling!" she replied and then dropped her voice to
a husky whisper and said, "I'll make it worth your while, Maxi. You know
how I love to do that for you when you do me a favor, don't you?"

Almost against my
will, I could feel the blood rushing away from my brain toward my groin.
Natalia had a way of turning everything into a sexual seduction, and while I
wasn't in love with her, I couldn't resist her considerable skills and
enthusiasm. She was a gorgeous woman. From her glossy black bob to her ruby red
lips to her hourglass figure, she radiated an aura of sexual power that drew men
to her in droves. She loved nothing more than to catch and release them, but
she always came back to me when she needed to ground herself in something real.
We were friends, but both of us knew it would never be more than that.

"Nat, what
are you doing?" I said as I swallowed hard.

"Oh, you know
perfectly well what I'm doing," she purred softly as my pants became
incredibly tight. "You love it when I take charge and tell you what I
want, don't you, Maxi?"

"Jesus,
woman," I groaned. "Fine, I'll go to the damn play with you! Just
stop these obscene phone calls! I've got a business to run!"

"Mmmm, you
know you love it," she laughed. "I'll get the tickets, you meet me at
the theater at seven sharp on Saturday. Oh, and Max?"

"Yes?"

"Wear
something that I can quickly remove," she said. "And, I'll do the
same."

"Natalia!"
I yelled as she laughed loudly before disconnecting.

I turned the
corner on Wabash and quickly walked to the store entrance. I'd rented this
place when I'd decided to sell the jewelry that I'd seen during my travels to
the Far East. For a long time, I'd wanted to bring together the Asian
influences in fine jewelry with the Russian expertise in mental work, and when
I'd run across a factory on the outskirts of Saint Petersburg that could not
only replicate Faberge-style items, but also manufacture entirely new items,
I'd signed a contract with them and vowed to get the business up and running
within six months.

That was four
months ago, and now I was looking at launching my new line at the trade show in
two weeks. I needed to hit the ground running and score a couple of big clients
in order to ensure that my investment would continue to pay off. I knew that
landing the big clients would not be easy in a city where there was an entire
block devoted to high, medium, and low end jewelry, and being the new guy in
town made my position even more precarious. No one had ever heard of me, and if
they had, they probably wanted to do business with my father rather than me.

I opened the door,
entered the shop, and looked around. It was a small place, but I'd done some
renovations to make it look shiny and new. I'd put in plush carpeting in a soft
shade of gray and had the electrician install new lighting that hung lower and
reflected in a way that made the metal and stones sparkle at any angle. I'd
polished the jewelry cases to a shine and they were ready to house the gorgeous
gems I'd purchased and imported.

My office was in
the back and had been sparsely furnished with a desk, chair, and a conference
table for any private business that needed to be done away from the sales
floor. I had a thin laptop computer that I took everywhere with me so that I
could monitor the business no matter where I was, and now all I needed was an
employee to help me sell the jewels.

I'd thought long
and hard about whom I would hire, and I'd decided that it needed to be a woman.
I needed balance in the store, and a woman would provide just the right image
and give me the opportunity to serve my clients in the way that was most comfortable
for them. Sometimes a woman's touch was needed in order to close a sale or
encourage an additional purchase, and I was no fool when it came to ensuring
that my business had every possible opportunity to succeed.

The question was
where to find a qualified, knowledgeable, and attractive woman who could do all
of the things I was asking of her. I'd tried ads in the paper and through the
local gemological society, but so far, they'd not produced any viable
candidates. I was going to have to find someone fast if I wanted to have any
hope of turning this business into a success.

I went back to my
office and began scanning the list of temp agencies in the area, hoping that
maybe one of them could provide me with a suitable employee.

"Dammit, I'm
going to make this work," I swore under my breath as I reached for the
phone and dialed the first number on the screen.